Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Directors of World Panorama films in IFFI meet the press
Cinema should be about visual storytelling: Veit Helmer
‘A Sacred Gaucho’ is based on the symbolic tradition of India and Argentina: Joaquin Pedretti
Phoenix is a film about children who are to assume responsibility as adults: Camilla Strom Henriksen
The directors of the films in the World Panorama section of 49th IFFI-2018 - The Bra, A Sacred Gaucho, Phoenix, Autsajder and Nervous Translation addressed the media during the 49th International Film Festival of India, Goa today, November 24, 2018.
Veit Helmer, Director of the German film ‘The Bra’ said that communication with the audience is very important and it would be great to institutionalise a Q&A session with the audience after every movie screening.
Quoting Alfred Hitchcock, Mr. Veit Helmer said that cinema should be about visual storytelling and that dialogue spoils the visual elements in that narration. “There is no need to think how one can talk to a universal audience. If you talk about something very personal, then everybody in the world will understand”, he further added. He also enquired about the possibilities of films from diverse places like Latin America and Europe getting commercially released in India.
Mr. Joaquin Pedretti, Director of ‘A Sacred Gaucho’ said that his film is based on a popular hero who represents the poor people. He elaborated that the film has been given its particular structure based on its narrative. “It is so important for us to have the world premiere in IFFI because it is based on the symbolic tradition of India and Argentina, as we have the same type of archetypes”, he said.
Narrating the characteristics of her film, Camilla Strom Henriksen, Director of Phoenix, said that it is a dark quiet film for grownups, children being the film’s main characters. It is about children who are forced to assume the responsibility as adults because the parents fail to do so. She pointed out that the theme of the film would resonate with many people even though the circumstances can be very different. Replying to a question on how to make a film that can connect to each and every person, she said that if the filmmaker is specific about what she does, she will reach the audience she is meant to reach.
Adam Sikora, Director of Autsajder said that his movie is about a very difficult time in Poland. It's the story of a young man in 1980s and how he faces these problems. Ms. Dennese Victoria, Cinematographer of ‘Nervous translation’ said that it takes a while for the audience to adjust to a film’s language to understand what the film offers to you.
Backgrounder
The Bra
The film is a romantic comedy where a lonely train driver- Nuraln, on the edge of his retirement, finds a bra on his train and walks along the track to look for the owner. Veit Helmer is known for his films TUVALU, ABSURDISTAN and BAIKONUR, and has been invited to major festivals, among them Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Sundance and received all together 180 awards. He started shooting films at the age of 14. His first feature film Tuvalu earned more than 32 awards.
A Sacred Gaucho
A Sacred Gaucho, bilingual film in Spanish & Guarani is directed, written & produced by Joaquin Pedretti. The film story is about a farm labourer’s search for a child that he lost in an accident. He has to transform into a popular hero called “Gauchito Gil”, a local Robin Hood, and therefore die like the myth hanged from the ankles. Sacred Gaucho had its World Premiere at IFFI. As a director, Joaquin has made more than twenty pieces of different genres and formats.
Phoenix
Phoenix is a Norwegian film directed by Ms. Camilla Strom Henriksen that tells a story of Jill, a caring & responsible teenager in family, who handles her mentally ill mother. When her estranged father visits her place on her birthday amidst a tragic situation, Jill keeps it a secret. As Jill leaves childhood behind, the arrival of her father offers a glimpse of a different life.
The film is the directorial feature debut of actress and London Film School graduate Camilla Strom Henriksen. She has been a successful actress for many years and started directing with TV series Hotel Caesar and Hvaler. She is also known for her widely acclaimed films Weekend  and A Handful of Time .
Autsajder
A Polish film directed & written by Mr.Adam Sikora. In the film, Protagonist of the film is Franek, a student of painting. Coincidentally he gets involved in the cogs of a horrific totalitarian machine. His sensitivity and humanity will be heavily tested. Its story is inspired by true events from the martial law period and the early 1980s.
Adam Sikora, is a documentary and feature film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer, as well as photographer, painter. He is known for his work on Essential Killing , Corpus Christi  and Autsajder .He also has many international awards to his credit.
Nervous Translation
Nervous Translation, a Filipino language film written, directed & edited by Ms. Shireen Seno. Set in the Philippines in the late 1980s, Nervous Translation captures the uncertainty and curiosity of childhood in a strikingly unique way. Eight year-old Yael, shy to a fault, lives in her own private world. One day she finds out about a pen that can "translate" the thoughts and feelings of nervous people. Thereafter, she decides to spend all her savings on this miraculous pen.
Shireen Seno, studied architecture and film studies at the University of Toronto. Her photo and video work has been shown in various galleries. . Her debut film Big Boy  screened at IFFR - International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the prize for Best First Film at the Festival de Cine Lima Independiente in 2013. Nervous Translation is her second feature.